Neil Rhind Publishes His New Book on Blackheath
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NEWSLETTER WINTER 2020 NEIL RHIND PUBLISHES HIS NEW BOOK ON BLACKHEATH Our President, Neil Rhind, has for the Society, was commissioned Blackheath and Hampstead Heath completed the third volume by the Greater London Council to were designated at risk, and write a modest pamphlet marking careful lobbying of the freehold of his major work, Blackheath the 100th anniversary in 1971 of owners - in our case the Earls of Village & Environs, and this will the taking into care of Blackheath’s Dartmouth and Queen Victoria - be published by the Society 275 acres, for the benefit of the convinced them that they should before Christmas. people of London in perpetuity. give up their rights, but not the freeholds. The exact date was still to be finalised as the Newsletter went to This encouraged the introduction press and we hope to hold a Zoom of an Act of Parliament which launch event for the book, covering would protect these precious Lewisham and Lee parishes, in acres for ever. In 1869 that December. Please watch our website was done and in 1871 the and regular emails to members for Supplemental Act, protecting the confirmation of both events. heaths, was passed. His first single volume covering Since then our local residents the Village and the Vale appeared have been tenacious in guarding in 1976 and, encouraged by the the qualities of Blackheath as bookseller the late Louis Leff, and a topographical entity, not just others, he published Volume II in Other open spaces within the the green area in the middle, 1983. This had 400 pages and over London suburbs, some of them but the fringe suburb we all call 200 illustrations, maps and indices. commons, had been exploited by Blackheath. In 1970 Neil, then press officer developers and land owners to the The houses, trees, gardens detriment of the inhabitants. HIGHLIGHTS Chair’s year end report President donates to Society Shed of the year Page 3 Page 7 Page 9 Page 2 | NEW BLACKHEATH BOOK CHAIR’S REPORT | Page 3 and landmarks needed protection as well and, in Park was part of the Heath until Duke Humphrey of SOCIETY CHAIR LOOKS FORWARD TO BETTER TIMES due course, groups emerged to do this. In 1937 the Gloucester stole it for a hilltop palace in 1433, and it Blackheath Society was founded by Douglas Bliss, Jack was never given back. Paul Watts, the Society’s chair, reports: I wrote membership, as we continue to look to increase our Bullocke and Alan Roger Martin, among others. There are some who questioned why it took so long for this time last year of our plans for 2020, which base, and full details about this are on the back page. The following year the Blackheath Preservation Neil to write Volume III after the success of Volume II. included the return of a Kite Day on the Heath, I must also give my thanks to our volunteers across Trust, which bought and preserved older properties, But he was not idle during the interval, producing all areas of our activities - planning, archives, social encouraged this process and it was well-supported by new publications and an enhanced events more books such as the Walking the Heath and media, events, Newsletter delivery, the management the local population. programme, including a revamped cricket Walking the Village with Roger Marshall, a major committee and, particularly as always, to our secretary match with the Greenwich Society. From then on forces were marshalled and battle lines companion volume about the Paragon and South Row, Sacha who has managed to keep the office running prepared, should a fight become necessary. There a short history of the Cator Estate and many walks, The world is a different place now and we have all had remotely during lockdown periods. were many such, but there was no argument over the talks, house histories and other local commitments, to learn to live with the restrictions in place to deal This year I would also add my particular thanks to investigation of the wider history of both the ancient, all of which took up time. with the Coronavirus pandemic, although early news Allan Griffin for his unstinting work with our President, and the then modern, properties. of a vaccine will hopefully mean a slow return to more The delay between the last two volumes was also Neil Rhind, on completing Volume III of his Blackheath normal life over the coming months. caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of Village & Environs series, detailed on the front page. the local history libraries at Greenwich and Lewisham. The Society has learned to adapt to these changed We very much hope that the events originally planned circumstances and I am pleased to report that Volume III, covering the parishes of Lewisham and Lee, for 2020 will now take place in 2021 (see story page 4) many of our normal activities have been carrying on can be obtained directly from the Society and from the and we look forward to the opportunity to meet with uninterrupted, from the use of Zoom for committee Bookshop on the Heath and Waterstones in the Village, our members face to face again. meetings to holding our AGM and reviewing planning priced at £20. applications online. We have other projects in mind, including We are also fortunate to have been donated not one looking at the but two Christmas trees for the Village this year, benefits of moving and we have been working with Lewisham Council to from our current install and switch them on with the usual Christmas unincorporated charity lights - but without a Village Day event this year, of status to become a course. charitable incorporated In the last Newsletter we led on the introduction of organisation (CIO) to traffic measures by Lewisham Council, particularly the keep up to date with impact on Blackheath Village and local residents from charity commission the, so far temporary, closure of South Row. best practice. This issue is ongoing and both Greenwich and Please do consider Lewisham Councils have been busy implementing low getting further involved traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in other areas of the with the Society and Boroughs. On South Row, we understand there will be encouraging others to consultation with residents and other stakeholders join. Best wishes for a before any further changes are considered. very happy Christmas More recently Neil took on Martin’s mantle and and a successful and I would urge all of you thinking about Christmas gifts continued his work. Starting in 1969, he dedicated healthy New Year. himself to researching the wider history of the suburb for family and friends to consider gifting a Society and since then he has produced nearly a dozen volumes, both fat and thin. This remarkable output has now reached the third TWO CHRISTMAS TREES PLANNED IN 2020 volume of his hugely detailed survey of our suburb, The Christmas tree at the top of Tranquil Vale was installed in nearly 40 years after the appearance of Volume II. early December and the lights were switched on, but without The third volume contains around 530 pages and any formal event due to the need to maintain social distancing over 263 illustrations and maps. Allan Griffin was the during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was supplied by Georgina Brian editorial manager for the project and his support and of Blooms by G, and the Society thanks her for her generosity. understanding brought it to fruition. When the Newsletter went to press, a second Village Christmas tree was Neil has still not finished. Because of the size of planned on the Montpelier Triangle, supplied by Jimmy Botton of Botton’s the latest volume, he had to leave out a substantial The top drawing shows Lewisham Hill by TM Baynes Family Funfair. The fair will not be operating this year and he kindly chapter on what he calls north-west Blackheath, all in in 1823, with Mortimer’s house on the right. These offered to supply and light a tree close to his usual location for the funfair Greenwich, covering Chesterfield Walk, Crooms Hill and houses were occupied by minor professional people in order to contribute to this year’s socially distanced festivities. Hyde Vale. Blackheath Greenwich will form Volume IV. and Charles Mortimer was a clerk in the Postmaster The lighting of the trees in Montpelier Vale, and of the other trees in You may think this is not Blackheath, but all this area General’s personal office. The lower photo is of Tranquil Vale, was due to be switched on at the same time as the Tranquil was once known as the Waste of Blackheath. Greenwich Blackheath Rise in Lewisham, taken around 1905 Vale Christmas tree. Page 4 | EVENTS FOR 2021 PLANNING ACTIVITIES | Page 5 VARIED NEW YEAR EVENTS PLANNED DESPITE COVID 19 BUSY PLANNING WORK CONTINUES DURING COVID 19 Government guidelines regarding the spread WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY: Meet & Eat The level of planning and development activity, raises issues of fair and sustainable competition and of Covid 19 make social events and gatherings Join us for a chat with other members and we meet at in terms of the number of applications and in choice in the Village, since it would give this site a the Crown pub in Blackheath at 1230. If restrictions difficult to plan and, at press time, we do not potentially dominant retail position. persist we will hold the meeting on Zoom. the construction work, has picked up markedly know what kind of events will be allowed in the since the summer and has continued during Outside our core area, other major proposals coming FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY: Walk & Talk New Year.